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Innovation
Where inquiry meets impact
Beyond our world-class iCAST facility, Branksome Hall is an innovation ecosystem where girls develop an innovator’s mindset to lead the future.
Developing an Innovation Mindset from JK to GrADE 12
Junior School
Innovation and technology are woven into our Junior School curriculum, rather than being taught as a standalone class. Following the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), our educators, specialists and co-ordinators collaborate to identify Units of Inquiry where technology can enhance learning. The iHub is a dedicated space where students actively explore everything from fabrication and robotics to digital media creation.
Middle School
Our Middle School curriculum prioritizes interdisciplinary learning where students gain new knowledge at the intersection of two distinct disciplines. Students explore their passions across courses, take Design (Product, Digital and Robotics) and the Arts (Music, Theatre, Film and Visual Arts) and work within our Middle School iHub on prototyping, fabrication, electronics and digital media.
Senior School
The Senior School curriculum offers rich subject specialization. Alongside a wide variety of Arts courses, Branksome is proud to offer Design Technology at the DP level. Supported by dedicated faculty—including the Innovation & Technology and Metal & Woodworking Shop Coordinators—students bring their ideas to life in our STEAM Studio, a dynamic space built for messy fabrication, construction, robotics and coding.
The Competencies
Design Thinking
Adaptability
Curiosity & Initiative
Ethical AI Stewardship
Co-Creation & Teamwork
Translating Concepts to Reality
Innovation in Practice
iCAST & Specialized Spaces
Community members are empowered to bring their boldest ideas to life with expert training and workshops held in state-of-the-art spaces to enhance skills.
iCAST
A space that sparks interdisciplinary learning, uniting arts, innovation, scholars and experts under one roof.
Learn More
Junior iHub
A flexible learning space integrating technology to support learning goals and inspire design thinking.
Middle and Senior iHub
A flexible space with advanced technology and workshops for staff and students to learn new skills and bring ideas to life.
Apple Distinguished School
Being an Apple Distinguished School positions Branksome Hall within a global network of visionary educational institutions. By connecting with other schools, our faculty members exchange best practices and acquire valuable insights. Similarly, Apple technology allows for students to create, collaborate and connect their learning to the outside world.
AI Leadership
Branksome Hall’s AI framework ensures the safe, ethical and responsible integration of generative AI within our institution. We embrace this technological evolution as an educational obligation, empowering both faculty and students to navigate AI in a way that protects data privacy, upholds academic integrity and deeply supports optimal learning.
Innovation at Branksome
Fuelled by a culture of curiosity, students and employees participate in community-wide programs that provide the expert mentorship, cutting-edge resources and leadership pathways needed to turn big ideas into meaningful impact.
The Chandaria Research Centre (CRC) acts as a hub of collaboration and creativity at Branksome Hall by supporting inquiry projects and sharing new research with the community—including our employees, students, parents and alums.
Visit the CRC
Noodle is Branksome’s signature 38-week business accelerator program. A first-of-its-kind in a Canadian JK–12 school, Noodle exposes students to all aspects of entrepreneurship.
Learn more about Noodle
The Slingshot Innovation Academy at Branksome Hall gives young people the opportunity to live innovation, not just learn about it. Build real mobile apps. Pitch startup ventures. Master debate and public speaking. Explore AI and business fundamentals.
Visit Slingshot
This initiative brings outside industry experts directly into our classrooms to enhance interdisciplinary learning, providing students with extended, first-hand industry experience and exposure to real-world problems of practice.
The first centre of its kind at a JK-Grade 12 school in Canada, the Centre for Strategic Leadership (CSL) provides Branksome employees with a range of leadership programs to assist them in identifying their paths to personal and professional leadership development.
Learn more about the CSL
Branksome students in Grades 10-12 trade their kilts for surgical scrubs at St. Michael’s Hospital for an immersive, hands-on exploration of the medical world.
Read about Women in ScrubsIMPACT
The Innovation Team on PrincipalED
What happens when world-class performing arts meet the cutting edge of technology? Get ready for a masterclass in interdisciplinary learning. In this podcast, we take an exclusive look inside the Karen L. Jurjevich Innovation Centre and Studio Theatre (iCAST), launching in 2026. Join Branksome Hall’s Innovation team as they reveal how this landmark space will help to dismantle the walls between disciplines. From the tactile power of "making" to the seamless K–12 innovation continuum, discover how Branksome’s iHubs and physical fabrication are equipping the next generation of leaders to design the future.
Community Achievements
Building Student Confidence
Math and French teacher David Fournier is piloting Flint AI chatbots for safe, low-stakes rehearsal before in-class oral tasks. This initiative, which includes tools like the Oral Participation Interviewer and Voix Courageuse, has led to stronger self-reflection habits among students.
Refining Concepts
Design teacher Terence Carty’s Grade 9 students communicated with Gemini to refine ambitious ideas for Grade 2 clients. Using the tool to brainstorm, they successfully pivoted from the concept of rocket-powered shoes to a more feasible 3D-printed articulated leg brace, showing AI's power to refine concepts into practical applications.
AI Literacy Lessons
In the Junior School, Teacher-Librarian Fatma Faraj has been leading Grade 6 students in critical literacy lessons. They explore mass information, misinformation versus disinformation and how to identify AI slop and hallucination.
Writing Effective Prompts
Grade 8 students being taught by Middle and Senior School Science teachers Marian Paxton and Emma Taman learned to write effective prompts and evaluate the validity of the responses they got back from different AI tools.
Imagine, Inspire and Innovate
PrincipalED Podcast Wins Silver 2026 CASE Circle of Excellence Award
- category
- Awards
- topic
- Innovation
- duration
- 2 min read
Branksome Hall has won a Silver 2026 Circle of Excellence Award from The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) the PrincipalED podcast.
Branksome Hall Honoured Nationally for Award-Winning Podcast and Website Redesign
- category
- Awards
- topic
- Innovation
- duration
- 3 min read
Branksome Hall has won two prestigious CCAE (Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education) Prix d’Excellence awards, in the company of some of Canada’s leading universities.
Branksome Hall’s ‘Noodle’ Program Featured in International Research Journal
- category
- News
- topic
- Clubs
- duration
- 2 min read
A study led by researchers at Branksome’s Chandaria Research Centre (CRC) was recently published in the prestigious International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship.
A New Middle School Experience
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- News
- topic
- IB/Academics
- duration
- 3 min read
The Middle School model is distinctly designed for the unique social, cognitive and well-being needs of Grades 7 and 8 students, serving as a bridge as students transition from the Junior School into Grade 7, and preparing them to enter the Senior School with confidence.
Branksome Hall Website Wins Two 2026 Web Excellence Awards
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- Awards
- topic
- Innovation
- duration
- 1 min read
Branksome Hall has won two prestigious Web Excellence Awards, taking home top honours in both the Education and School & University categories.
Roads Less Travelled: Trailblazing Alums from the Class of 2011
- category
- News
- topic
- Innovation
- duration
- 2 min read
As we kick off Reunion Week, we’re delighted to bring you a special conversation on the PrincipalED podcast with two trailblazers from the Class of 2011: Bertilia Trieu and Jie Ying Wu.
Extra! Extra! Grade 5 Launches "The Ribbit Report"
- category
- News
- topic
- Innovation
- duration
- 3 min read
The Junior School's news landscape changed forever in October 2025 with the premiere of The Ribbit Report, a student-led broadcast produced by the Grade 5 class. The Ribbit Report is shared with Junior School students twice a month and focuses on a variety of local and global initiatives.
New Students Maia and Hayden on PrincipalED
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- News
- topic
- Arts
- duration
- 2 min read
In the latest episode of PrincipalED, Grace sits down with two of our newest Junior School students to discuss their first year on campus.
Scrubbing In: Innovative New Program Empowers Next Generation of Female Medical Leaders
- category
- News
- topic
- IB/Academics
- duration
- 5 min read
Twenty-two Branksome Hall students recently traded in their kilts for surgical scrubs at St. Michael’s Hospital as they explored a bold new pipeline for future medical leaders, providing them an unprecedented look at the grit, skill and leadership required to thrive in the operating room and beyond.
Branksome Hall Embarks on Future-Focused Strategic Planning Journey
- category
- News
- topic
- Innovation
- duration
- 3 min read
Branksome Hall has launched its new Strategic Planning Process—a year-long journey dedicated to honouring the school’s unique heritage while boldly imagining the next chapter of its story.
